Metacognitive Strategies: Do They Improve Student Learning? - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Metacognitive Strategies: Do They Improve Student Learning?

(Spoiler: Sometimes!)

Metacognition FIG Group: Gretel Guest, Olga Hogrefe, Lori Khan, Scott Stauble, Dorothy Wood

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How did this Metacognition thing begin?

> Science involvement in Southeast Regional PULSE (Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education) > Developed a project to integrate metacognitive strategies into science courses > Dove-tailed well with FIG to show institutional support and keep us accountable beyond the PULSE meeting

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The ability to:

• Think about one’s own thinking
• Be consciously aware of oneself as a problem

solver

• Monitor, plan, and control one’s mental

processing

• Accurately judge one’s level of learning

Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem

• solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of

intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

That’s EPIC!! (Engaging Pedagogies In Classrooms) : Metacognition as a Tool to Improve Science Learning Science Division, Durham Technical Community College

• J. Scott Stauble, Dorothy Wood, Gretel Guest,

Lori Khan, Kara Battle, Kathy Zarilla

Project Abstract and Description Early Results and Testimonials – Was There Improvement? Difficulties Encountered and Future Directions

The Southeast Regional PULSE (SERP) Network is supported by award 1435389 from the National Science Foundation and support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Examples of Materials Presented What is Metacognition? Process and Procedure

• Interested instructors within the Science Discipline agreed to add a

lecture and/or activities on metacognition to their courses

• Students were presented with various metacognitive-related

handouts at the beginning of the semester, but not much time was given to talking about metacognitive strategies

• Courses progressed as normal to Exam 1
• After Exam 1 grades were posted, each participating instructor

delivered a self-prepared presentation on metacognitive strategies, showing how they can help students succeed, based on information gathered from Saundra Yancey McGuire’s presentations and materials.

• Students were explicitly encouraged to use metacognitive strategies

to prepare for Exam 2

• Grades from Exam 1 were compared to grades from Exam 2, and

students who improved their grades significantly were asked to describe what, if any, metacognitive strategies were used. Students often report the grade they earned on an exam does not reflect the time and effort they spent studying for

• it. In an attempt to improve student performance, and link

student preparation more closely with performance

• utcomes, we are undertaking a metacognitive course

strategy as follows:

• After the first exam, metacognitive strategies were

presented to the students

• Grades from the first exam were compared to those

from the second exam to see if there was any improvement.

• Metacognitive strategies will continue to be

emphasized throughout the semester.

• Final grade distributions from courses receiving

metacognitive strategy support will be compared with distributions from classes lacking this focus to determine if the strategies improved overall student performance.

• At the end of the semester, students in courses actively

employing metacognitive strategies will be asked to reflect on their perceptions of their learning.

• Student perception, correlated with actual grade

improvement, will guide future implementation of metacognitive strategies.

• Difficulties:
• Days missed due to inclement weather had an adverse

impact on Exam 2 grades, making comparison problematic, if not impossible.

• Material on Exam 2 in all courses studied was more difficult

than material than Exam 1. A comparison of Exam 1 scores to the combined scores for all exams subsequent to the metacognitive strategy intervention may be more informative.

• Next Steps and Future of the Project:
• Have students complete end of course questionnaire about

study habits/metacognitive strategies they found most effective.

• Tailor future classroom metacognition presentations to

those strategies students found most effective.

• Engage more instructors at Durham Tech in teaching

metacognitive strategies through presentations in our Teaching and Learning Center.

• Microbiology Student
• First Exam: 82%
• Second Exam: 98%
• “Even though I studied

hard for the first exam, I realized that it was not good enough. I asked myself the question: Am I reading just to get a good score or reading to understand and apply what I have learned in the future?”

• General Biology Student
• First Exam: 62%
• Second Exam: 87%
• “I took [my teacher’s]

advice and made concept cards after each lecture. I was able to review the cards and these told me what I didn’t know so I could review that [information] for the exam.”

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What does this mean for you?

> The best strategies! (by student report) > Scott – Active Reading > Lori – Summarizing/Paraphrasing > Olga – Study Groups/Teaching Others > Gretel – Self-Testing > Dorothy – Bloom’s Taxonomy/Scaffolding

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So, what IS Metacognition??

> The ability to: > Think about one’s own thinking > Be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver > Monitor, plan, and control one’s mental processing (e.g. “Am I understanding this material, or just memorizing it?”) > Accurately judge one’s level of learning

Courtesy of Dr. Saundra McGuire

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• Dr. McGuire’s Successes
• Robert, freshman chemistry student

> 42, 100, 100, 100 A in course

• Michael, senior pre-med organic student

> 30, 28, 80, 91 B in course

• Miriam, freshman calculus student

37.5, 83, 93 B in course

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First Strategy: Reading Comprehension – Anticipatory Sets!

> Preview material before reading > Develop questions you expect the passage to answer > Read one paragraph at a time while stopping to paraphrase the information read Knowing what to read FOR affects your comprehension

• f the material greatly!

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Spring 2015: Initial Strategies, Successes, and (mostly) Failures

Strategy: > Give a 15-30 minute lecture on metacognitive strategies to classes AFTER the first exam > Continue to encourage students to use metacognitive strategies while studying > Compare scores on first exams to those on second exams and look for improvements

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Spring 2015: Initial Strategies, Successes, and (mostly) Failures

Successes? Sadly, not so much… > Despite positive feedback from students on meta strategies, none of the courses showed any noticeable improvement! > Weather issues (nearly two weeks of courses missed between Exam 1 and Exam 2) > In most courses, Exam 2 was more difficult than Exam 1 > Were we maybe not really targeting the strategy correctly?

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Second Strategy: Summarizing/Paraphrasing

> Students with the most success reported telling another person about what they learned in class daily > Explain a concept out-loud or to another person (teaching someone else) > Pair-share

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Fall 2015: Changing the Strategy

• Targeting struggling students (C or lower on the first (or

second for HS Biology) exam);

• Send emails requesting a one-on-one meeting (some

students responded);

• Made metacognition materials available (posted on

Sakai and/or presented at the S. McGuire seminar at the TLC in October).

• Some students have shown improvement at the next

exam.

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Was Changing the Strategy Useful?

• Some students have shown improvement at the next

exam. Strategy focus Many students who improved their performance

• studied with a classmate or joined a larger study group

and/or

• spent more tine solving practice problems.

metacognition seminar discussion with the instructor metacognition seminar metacognition seminar, discussion with the instructor metacognition seminar, discussion with the instructor

CHM130 General, Organic and Biochemistry

Came for the learning strategies discussion (total): 9, improved: 3 Came for the metacognition seminar (total): 14, improved: 4

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Exam 1 Exam 2 Exam 3 Exam 4 Class grade What did they do differently after they failed Exam 1 Student F.

56 91 87 88 B

“I used the technique we were taught in the seminar and I went to tutoring 1 to 2 days a week. I also studied 1 hour day no matter

• what. Me and a couple of students

had a study group also. The technique: the one where you read the chapters and put it in your

• wn words. And the other

technique where you work out the problems and check it to make sure it is right.”

Student R.

46 62 66 88 C

“I joined a study group. We taught each other.”

A Story of Two CHM130 Students (the last two from the previous graph)

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Middle College Honors Biology

came for tutoring and advice on learning strategies A Metacognition talk was given to the whole class

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BIO 275 Microbiology

Metacognition materials were made available to the whole class, students were encouraged to use them. The instructor had a one-on-one conversation with students who got <60% on Exam 1 Students who changed their academic behavior (includes the use of metacognitive learning strategies. paraphrased the notes; did more practice questions made flow charts; read three slides at a time, then stopped and summarized; studied with a classmate studied with another student made more concept maps practiced the intense study cycle “became a more active learner (instead of absorbing the material passively)”

• nline tutorial modules

and practice questions in preparation for Exam2

durhamtech.edu discussion with the instructor Came for the discussion (total): 8, improved: 7

BIO 111 General Biology I

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For Whom Did the New Strategy Work?

• BIO 275: almost everybody (7 out of 8).
• BIO 111: B and C students (they not only used the strategies,

but also changed their “academic behavior”).

• CHM 130: about one-third of the students. The most drastic

improvement for two D students (they came to the metacognition seminar and then used suggested techniques the most aggressively).

• High School Honors Biology: almost everybody (7 out of 8)

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Third Strategy: Study Groups/Teaching Others

• “If you can meet with other classmates to compare
• notes. It helps with other ways to understand material”.
• “Network with classmates”.
• “Find a study partner” (more than one comment of this

type).

“Words of wisdom” from Chm130 students themselves

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Reflections on the FIG

> Positive feedback from students > Plans to continue using meta strategies > Despite setbacks, if we can help just one student, then it is worth it! > Spreading the joy

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Fourth Strategy: Self-Testing Strategies

How to self test using the instructor’s powerpoint slides: Why rewrite this? Why reorganize this? I’ll just look this over – I’m sure I’ll remember it!

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Why rewrite this? Why reorganize this? I’ll just look this over – I’m sure I’ll remember it!

Wrong! Print out your slides as a “handout” with 4 or 6 slides on a page. Use this as your study tool! Fourth Strategy: Self-Testing Strategies

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Define inorganic Define organic

List 4 characteristics of inorganic molecules. List 4 characteristics of organic molecules. Give an example of a molecule that is organic and inorganic.

Why is she talking about carbon? What is a valence electron? What is a hydrocarbon? List 3 characteristics of hydrocarbons. Give some examples of hydrocarbons.

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Next – do some verbal rehearsal! 1) Ask yourself one of your questions while covering up the slide. 2) Got it right? Move on! 3) Got is wrong? Study, and try again until you speak the correct answer out loud. 4) Now you know what you know!

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Applications to Other Classes

> Metacognition is not just for Science AT ALL! > Meta strategies help overcome learned helplessness (“I’m just not good at __________!!”) > Student is a thinking, problem-solving being…active, not passive!

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Fourth Strategy: Bloom’s Taxonomy/Scaffolding To counter learned helplessness, build student confidence gradually within the work week

durhamtech.edu http://blog.curriculet.com/38-question-starters-based-blooms-taxonomy/

Formative assessments; introduce vocabulary and basic concepts Post-class quizzes; assess understanding and begin application of knowledge Exams and assignments assess critical thinking skills and understanding of higher-level concepts

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Wrapping it Up

> It’s about students becoming ACTIVE learners > Take a moment…is there anything that you think you could use in your classes?

Thank you!